U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,487 discloses a fluid dispensing closure and package that include a container having a body for holding a product to be dispensed and a finish having an open mouth. A dispensing closure is mounted on the container finish. In one embodiment, the dispensing closure includes a base and a lid integrally hinged to the base. The base has a deck with a dispensing opening. A flexible dispensing valve is mounted within the dispensing opening by means of a retaining ring secured to the underside of the deck surrounding the dispensing opening.
U.S. application Ser. No. 10/208,443 discloses a dispensing closure that includes a base and a lid integrally connected to the base by at least one hinge element for pivoting the lid between a closed position overlying the base and an open position remote from the base. The base includes a deck wall, a skirt coupled to the deck wall and having an internal thread or bead for securing the closure to a container, and a dispensing opening in the deck wall. The lid includes a skirt that surrounds the deck wall in the closed position of the lid. The lid skirt has an interruption at the hinge element into which the hinge element is received in the closed position of the lid. The deck wall has an upstanding part-annular arcuate wall positioned around a peripheral portion of the deck wall adjacent to the hinge element and internally adjacent to an internal surface of the lid skirt at the hinge element to retard entry of moisture through the lid skirt interruption in the closed position of the lid.
A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved dispensing closure of the described character, an improved package embodying such a closure, and an improved method of making such a closure.
The present invention embodies a number of different aspects that may be implemented separately from or, more preferably, in combination with each other.
A dispensing closure in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention includes a base having a lid integrally connected to the base by a hinge. The base has a deck with a central portion, a dispensing opening in the central portion, and a peripheral portion surrounding the central portion. The peripheral portion includes a raised wall partially surrounding the central portion, and having a greatest height adjacent to the hinge and decreasing in height around the central portion. The wall has an inner surface that blends with the central portion of the deck to form a concave channel surrounding the central portion of the deck. The channel surface has a base that is angled with respect to the peripheral portion down and away from the raised wall. Any moisture that condenses or collects on the deck thus tends to flow around the central portion of the deck to the point diametrically spaced from the hinge. In a preferred embodiment in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the channel is arcuate in cross section adjacent to the hinge, with the arcuate cross section preferably varying in radius around the central portion of the deck.
A dispensing closure in accordance with a second aspect of the invention includes a base having a lid integrally connected to the base by a hinge. The base has a deck with a domed central portion, a dispensing opening in the domed central portion, and a flexible dispensing valve mounted to the base within the dispensing opening. A peripheral portion of the base includes a raised wall partially surrounding the domed central portion. The raised wall has a greatest height adjacent to the hinge and decreases in height around the domed central portion to zero height diametrically opposite the hinge. The wall has an inner surface that blends with the domed central portion to form a concave channel surrounding the domed central portion. The channel is arcuate in cross section adjacent to the hinge, and has a base surface that is angled with respect to the peripheral portion down and away from the raised wall. In a preferred embodiment in accordance with this aspect of the invention, an annular wall underlies the deck around the dispensing opening, and an annular channel is disposed on the undersurface of the deck interiorly adjacent to the annular wall. The valve has a peripheral ledge with a bead that is received in the channel, and a retaining ring is secured within the annular wall to capture the peripheral ledge between the ring and the undersurface of the deck. The retaining ring preferably is symmetrical around its central plane, so that the ring can be assembled to the closure base from either direction.